The Justice Department is weighing whether to launch an investigation into the Fort Worth Police Department’s handling of an event at Trinity Pride Fest in June that prompted the department to give officers a refresher on First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n
On June 27, Fort Worth PD officers cited a person<\/a> for disorderly conduct after street preachers were speaking into bullhorns near Trinity Pride in Fort Worth’s Near Southside neighborhood.<\/p>\n Videos posted on Facebook and X show the street preachers speaking with police officers when one of the preachers asks if someone can be cited for misgendering a transgender person.<\/p>\n “We’re talking gray area right now,” an officer responds. “I don’t believe I would cite that for offensive language.”<\/p>\n In another video, posted on X, an officer is speaking with two street preachers. “Are you really going to ticket us for offensive speech?” one of the street preachers asks the officer in the video.<\/p>\n “Yes, absolutely,” the officer says before saying, “it’s called disorderly conduct.”<\/p>\n The department confirmed to the Star-Telegram on July 2 that officers would be receiving a refresher on the First Amendment.<\/p>\n On July 10, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, posted about the incident on X.<\/a><\/p>\n “Troubling,” Dhillon wrote. “Our @CivilRights team is on it.”<\/p>\n